Not My Daughter
by Cassie5squared
Summary: What might have happened, had Andromeda Tonks not had a grandson to take care of during the Battle of Hogwarts? AU ficlet.


Tonks was afraid.

That wasn't an admission she'd have made to anyone normally, even herself, but tonight, perhaps it was time to drop the bravado. She was out here in the middle of a war - not just a skirmish, a few spells flung and then back into the shadows, but an all-out war, with the fate of an entire nation in the balance. And it wasn't just her, either; all of her friends were out here fighting for the right to live their lives as they chose. Just like her parents had done.

Ducking into a corner for a moment's breath, she felt her eyes burn at the thought of her parents. They'd struggled for so long to keep together, and defied so many people to do it... and then, just because of his parents, her dad, big gentle Ted who had adored his daughter and comforted her and praised her courage, had been hunted down and murdered. Tonks had spent hours sobbing in the arms of her mother and husband when the news came through, all three of them grieving together...

 _Dad wouldn't want me crying over him again right now,_ she reminded herself, and stepped out to carry on fighting.

A pale little figure surrounded by flying red hair fought beside her, and Tonks nearly smiled at the fierce expression on her friend's face. Even if she wasn't of age yet, there weren't many people as tough and resilient as Ginny Weasley, and she was a frighteningly adept duellist for her age. Together they made their way down through the castle, hoping to see just a glimpse of their loved ones.

 _He was duelling Dolohov..._ The thought of losing Remus after everything they'd been through sent a chill down the young Auror's back. They'd never get to have a life together, never have the baby she'd talked so hopefully about - he'd looked terrified at the idea, but she was adamant there was no way he could pass on his own condition to their baby. Why did families have to be so hard?

A screech of rage came from her right just as she reached the top of the main stairs, and on a sudden instinct she flung up a shield. The spell's impact still sent her sprawling against the statue at the top of the handrail, and as she struggled to regain her feet she made out the all too familiar form of Bellatrix Lestrange bulling through the battle towards her. _Speaking of families..._

"Go on," Tonks said sharply to Ginny, waving her free hand towards the stairs. "Find Remus for me, will you, if you can?" The look she got in return said very clearly that Ginny knew she was being sent off on purpose, but in a flicker of white and red she was gone.

A light show exploded as Bellatrix went on the attack, her eyes bright with mad glee as she shrieked insults between her spells; she'd cornered her niece at last, and nothing was going to stop her from wiping the stain off the family tree for good now. Tonks just about managed to hold her own against the onslaught, honed as her skills were from the last year and more of constant fighting. She just didn't have the same vicious drive to win at any cost that her current opponent did.

A cry came from the bottom of the stairs - no words, just a terrible sound of fear and desperation, but she knew from whom it had come. Remus, no doubt alerted by Ginny, had come to help. It caused a moment of distraction on her part - and that was enough for Bellatrix to hurl a Blasting Curse that sent Tonks crashing to the floor, dazed and wandless.

Demented laughter filled the air as the young woman feebly scrabbled for her wand - it was there somewhere, it had to be, but _where_? With horrifying certainty, as the jeering witch approached with a gloating expression of triumph, Tonks knew she was about to die.

 _Not like this please no not lying at her feet I never got to say goodbye to Mum or Remus or -_

A sound like a cannon blast came from nowhere, and the area filled with smoke. Tonks yelped and covered her face. A few seconds later, as the echoes died away, she heard her own ragged breathing, and realised in shock that she was alive. The click of heels on the stairs passed her, and she pushed herself up on one arm, waving the smoke away to try to see what had happened.

For a moment she thought she was seeing double. Bellatrix lay stunned in the rubble, covered in a layer of rock dust... but a woman who looked very much like her was standing between the dazed woman and Tonks, wand levelled, wearing a terrifying expression of rage.

Reality snapped back as Remus reached her and began helping her up, and Tonks staggered to her feet, gripping her husband's arm tightly as he pushed her wand into her hand. " _Mum_?"

"Bella," Andromeda said tightly, keeping her wand trained on her sister and showing no sign of having heard Tonks' exclamation. "It's been a while."

"You _dare_ -" Bellatrix spluttered, trying to pull herself to her feet. A curse erupted from Andromeda's wand, and Bellatrix barely managed to avoid it. She came to her feet white-faced and just about ready to explode, spitting insults that would have been almost funny if they had been coming from anyone but her.

"I'm not here to play your games, Bella. You need to be stopped - you and everyone like you." Tonks felt a chill. She'd never heard her mother sound so angry - or so cold. Even Bellatrix fell silent, stunned at her sister's audacity. Andromeda took a step forward, her voice shaking with repressed tears as she carried on. "It's never enough, is it? Disowning me wasn't enough. Killing our cousins wasn't enough, killing _my husband_ wasn't enough -"

"You're a disgrace to the family," Bellatrix hissed, goaded into responding at last. "Marrying that Mudblood, letting your brat mate with that filthy half-breed -"

"A man who's worth a thousand of you," Andromeda snarled, her wand nearly shaking with the tight grip she had on it. Only Tonks saw the look of stunned, almost joyful disbelief on Remus's face at this unhesitating defence, and hid a smile of her own. "And I haven't been part of your family since the day I left home. You all made that _very_ clear." She took a few steps back, towards her daughter and son-in-law. "This is my family now, Bella, and sister or not, if you try to hurt them again _I will kill you_."

The silence that followed these words rang like a bell as the pair held each other's gaze.

Just as it seemed that the almost palpable tension could not be strained any tighter, a high, cold voice split the night, and all four of them jumped. At the call for the Death Eaters to retreat, Bellatrix cast a look filled with hatred at her sister, and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

All the rigid posture evaporated from Andromeda in an instant, and she sagged against a nearby statue with what sounded suspiciously like a sob. That was enough for Tonks, and in an instant she was hugging her mother tightly. "It's okay, Mum, it's okay," she said quietly. "Look, it's all stopped. I'm fine, we're all fine."

Andromeda hugged back, taking a moment to regain her composure, before straightening up again. "I know," she replied, looking rather shaken anyway.

"Have you gone completely mad?" Tonks demanded next. "Walking in here after I said you should stay safe?"

"Possibly I am a little bit mad, yes," Andromeda retorted. "Maybe it's something to do with the fact that your father's dead and I'm not going to sit at home waiting to find out if you're coming back. Just as well, or you wouldn't be."

"And your timing can't be faulted," Remus put in, coming to join them with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder for both women. "All the same, Andromeda, do you really think you can do much here? You're many wonderful things, but is a fighter really among them?"

"You forget I grew up with Bellatrix," she replied, with a steely glint in her eye. "I learned a lot from her before I left home. Not only that, I have two wonderful people I love and want to see coming home when this is over." She reached out to pull him in for a kiss on the cheek, and hugged her daughter fiercely. "I'm staying. We'll do this together. Now let's go and help."


End file.
